Expansible toe form



Dec; 9, 1930. D Wm 1,784,660

EXPANSIBLE TOE FORM Filed Dec. 20, 1928 Patented Dec. 9, 1930 f 1 UNITED STATES" PATENT? OFFICE WILLIAM J. DE Wrrr, or AUBURN, NEW YoRK, AssIGivoR T SHOE FO M co. me, or

AUBURN, NEW YoRK, A ooRroRArmN 01" NEW YORK 1 EXPANSIBLE Ton FORM,

Application filed December 20, 1928. Serial No. 327,399.

This invention relates to an expansible toe form adapted to keep the toe of footwear plumped out or free from wrinkles and is an improvement upon the shoe form disclosed in my Patent No. 1,646,016 dated October 18, 1927 diflering therefrom in certain details of construction. I

The primary object of this invention is to provide a form which, due to the inherent functions of its component elements, normally expands into the functioning position and which will easily collapse from such position in order to permit the insertion or withdrawal of the form.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toe form comprising a shell of resilient material the walls of which are connected by a normally resilient cross brace which will supplement the natural resiliency of the material and cause the form to exp and into its normal position while permitting it to contract under pressure.

' Other objects of this invention will appear from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan View of a toe form embodying one modification of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a form embodying another modification of this invention;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a third modification of the invention; and

Figs. l and 5 are views in elevation of cross braces that might be employed in place of the cross braces disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2.

The toe form is designated generally in the drawings by the reference numeral and is made of thin resilient material shaped into a hollow member or shell having'side walls 11 and 12 which terminate in flanges 13 and 14:.

The flanges which may be integrally connected at the toe, as shown in the drawings,

are preferably in the same plane so that they rest upon theinner sole of a shoe when the form is positioned in the toe thereof 1 The walls 11 and 12 of the form, dueto the resiliency of the material, tend to expand and, when inserted in the toe of a shoe, to fill out the toe by holding the material thereof smooth and free from wrinkles. By reason of the diflerence in materials employed in shoes the" resistance to this action varies and in order' to insure the plumping of the shoe material the tendency of the form material is supplemented by cross braces or similar means which are. normally'resilient. Thus in the modification'shown in Fig. 1, the walls 11 and 12 are provided with a cross piece or brace 15 of integral spring wire having a loop 16 intermediate its ends. Preferably this bracef'is secured to the flanges 13 and 14 by rivets 17 and 18. The ends of the brace are bent to surround the shanks of the rivets 17 and 18 in order to allow a certain amount of'pivotal movement of the brace relative to the rivets. The brace, being, as pointed out above, of spring wire and having the loop 16, normally tends to take, the position shown in F 1 and'thus to supplement the normal eX- pansive elasticity of the walls. v

'VVhen pushed into the toe of the shoe the form may be grasped at itsrear edges and the cross brace-15 contracted a trifle. The walls of the shoe limit the expansion of the form so that when it reaches the final position the side wallsfof theform plump out the toe. The shoe walls alone may be relied upon to contractthe brace but it has been found that a preliminary-contraction, while not necessary, facilitates the operation. The legs 19 of-the brace 15 incline forwardly from the loop 16 so that the angle of the loop may be said to open toward the toe; hence the brace 15 may easily be contracted solely by the walls of the shoe when the form is Withdrawn.

.The' modification shown in Fig; 2 is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 and comprises the same elements. The brace 15 however-is in tion the brace will expand to the limit set by the shoe and plump out the toe. When the form is to be withdrawn fromthe shoe, the back edges of the form may be grasped and the side walls contracted sothat it can be eX-' tracted. 1

Fig.3 is similar to Fig. 1 with the exception that there is provided aback part wire or thrust bar 21 which engages the front member of the loop 16. The thrust bar facilitates the eXtraction of theform fromfthe toe of the shoe because, by pulling on the bar,

said flanges, said'brace being provided with a loop intermediate its ends, and a thrust bar pivotally secured to said loop.

2. In a shoe form comprising a shell having flanges at the bottoms of its side walls, a single normally resilient brace connecting said flanges, said brace being pivotally connected at its ends to the flanges and being provided with a loop intermediate its ends, and a thrust bar pivotally secured to said loo Signed'by me at Auburn, New Yor this 18th day of December, 1928.

' WILLIAM J. DE \VITT.

the brace is positively contracted thus separating the side walls-of the form from-the shoe walls. The form may be slid into the shoe in the manner described and the rear end of the bar braced against the heel counter of the shoe in the well known-manner,

such asis shown in the patent above mentioned. In that case the resiliency of the thrust bar will supplement the action of the brace 15 and further insure full contact of the side walls with the shoe walls- It will be noted that the loop 22 of the thrust bar encirclesthe forward portion of the loop 16 and that the thrust bar is above the rear portion of such loop. Hence the pivotal movement of the toe form. on the thrust bar will be limited, all as pointed out in my copending application filed on even date herewith.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate other forms of cross pieces or braces that might be employed in place of the ones heretofore described. Thus in Fig. 4 the brace 25 is made almost right an gular in shape with a central loop-26 and looped ends 27. In Fig. 5, thebraee 30 is made substantially W-shaped in form, having outer legs 31 and 32, inner legs 33 and 3 1,

the legs 31 and 33, 32 and 34 being connected by loops 35 while the legs 33 and 3mm connected by a loop 36. As pointed, out above, either of these constructionsmight be substituted for the constructions shown in either Figs. 1 or 2 and when so placed will function lVhile certain embodiments of the broad invention'have been shown and described I am not limited theretosince other embodiments might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth 'in the following claims. 1

I claim:

1. In a shoe form'comprising a shell having flanges at the bottoms of its side walls, a single normally resilient lbrace connecting in the manner of the braces 15 in those figures. 1 

